July 2018
ANA Preview of Rarity: 1854 S $5 Gold Up for Auction
When major collections hit the market after being hidden away for many years, it tends to excite not only dealers and collectors but the entire market place. With both Heritage Auctions and Stack’s Bowers Galleries sharing the tag of official auctioneers for this year’s ANA World’s Fair of Money in Philadelphia, August 14-20, dealers and collectors will have the opportunity to bid on, or just gaze upon, some amazing rarities from a variety of remarkable collections. With so many highlights to choose from, we will preview the collections and rarities from the Heritage Auctions ANA Sale in this article and conclude our preview with the Stack’s Bowers Galleries portion in August.

The ANA Heritage Auction includes several important collections; among them are the Red Headed Copper Collection, the Dale Friend Collection of Bust Half Dollars, the Dick Osburn Collection, and the Jim O’Neal Collection of Proof Type Half Dollars. With so many wonderful available coins, selecting potential highlights is nearly impossible, but one that is sure to attract numerous bidders is the newly discovered 1854 S $5 Gold in NGC XF45. This coin is one of only four known in existence; of the others, one is in the Smithsonian and two are in private hands. This date had of an original mintage of 268, the smallest mintage of any No Motto $5 Gold, however extensive documentation seems to indicate that more than 260 of these coins were melted down and re-coined as Sovereigns. There is practically no recent information available for value, but NGC lists the XF40 at $3,000,000, while PCGS lists it at $1,500,000 and the NumisMedia FMV is at $1,562,500. This coin is likely to be the star of the sale.

Available from the Red Headed Copper Collection, the 1796 Liberty Cap Half Cent with Pole PCGS MS66+ Red & Brown with CAC approval is this highest graded coin for this date. The original mintage for the date is 1,390 but that includes the No Pole variety as well. There are only 18 coins certified in Mint State which includes the Brown and the Red & Brown designations. In early 2016, this coin had an FMV of $525,000 and has remained at that value since, but that should change with the results of this sale.

Described as “Museum Quality”, the 1827 Bust Half Dollar in PCGS PR66 CAC from the Jim O’Neal Collection of Proof Type Half Dollars looks exactly as stated; “bold strike, with a slight cameo contrast and lovely iridescent toning.” Research shows at most 8 coins tracked in recent history with only 6 showing up on the Population Reports. This is considered the third finest known with one in PR67 being the finest and another one in PR66 but designated as Cameo. There is also one PR64 and another two in PR63. This very same coin sold for $158,625 in another Heritage Auction back in 2013.

The Arrows and Rays Half Dollar is extremely popular, and when it is in Proof it becomes exceedingly rare. The 1853 Arrows and Rays in PCGS PR65 CAC, also from the Jim O’Neal Collection, is one of only two coins in this grade with only one higher in NGC PR66, and the only one with the CAC sticker. While documents show that there were 5 originally minted, the population reports show as many as 8 coins. But some could possibly be resubmissions; the Heritage roster of specific coins lists 7 coins with 1 of them a possible duplicate. The current value for the PR65 in CAC is $180,000. The highest price recorded for this date was $184,000 in the Heritage FUN Sale of 2012.

1853 Arrows and Rays PCGS PR65 CAC is available at the Heritage Auctions ANA World’s Fair of Money U.S. Coins Signature Auction in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 14-20, 2018

The $4 Gold Stella is a very short series to collect, however, it is anything but easy to collect with entry level prices typically at $100,000 and above. The 1879 $4 Gold Flowing Hair Stella certified by PCGS as PR66 available in the Heritage ANA Sale is a date that is always highly sought after when brought to auction. There are 35 coins certified in this grade with another 7 graded higher, the highest being PR67+. With a total of only 460 coins total minted for all dates and varieties, the $4 Gold Stella is one of those series that seems to have more coins certified than the original mintage. Resubmissions make the total number of 677 submitted dramatically skewed, but 378 of those are the 1879 Flowing Hair. In 2010, the FMV for the PR66 was $275,000 but drifted lower in 2014 to $262,500 which is also the current FMV.

The 1852 O $20 Gold Liberty in NGC MS65 is considered to be the finest known of any New Orleans minted Twenty Dollar Gold. The next highest grade certified for the 1852 O is just one NGC coin at MS63. This date had a rather high original mintage of 190,000, but most of those were used in trade; there are only 42 in all Mint State grades with the majority in MS60 & MS61. This coin has not adjusted since it was first valued at $290,250 as a result of the 2011 Heritage FUN Auction where it sold for $276,000. Keep in mind that the MS63 grade (one coin known) has advanced in value over 30% since 2010.

Records are made to be broken and we could very well see some new record prices established from these fabulous sales. The coins referenced above are but a few of the tremendous rarities available in the two upcoming ANA official auctions, both packed with a large variety of coins from all series and grades throughout. Next month we will continue our preview of the ANA World’s Fair of Money auctions with the collections and rarities from Stack’s Bowers Galleries.